The past couple of months have been full of changes for the upcoming Lego Movie sequel: not only has the movie been pushed back, but its script is also being re-written—by Bojack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg.In other words, you could say that the Lego Movie sequel was lost, and now it’s found, and now it’ll be horsin’ around. According to Variety, Rob Schrab will still direct, but Warner Bros. decided to take the script in a new direction as the franchise’s original scribes, The Lego Movie directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, gear up to helm a certain Star Wars anthology film. And a new direction this will certainly be!As Variety notes, this will mark Bob-Waksberg’s first go-round writing a film, and the pressure will certainly be on: the original grossed $469 million worldwide, and by the time this installment comes out, it’ll have two more spin-offs to match. First, there will be The Lego Batman Movie next February, starring original Lego Batman Will Arnett;
The Lego Ninjago Movie will follow in late September.But there’s plenty of reason to believe Bob-Waksberg is up to the task: Bojack Horseman has curried favor with fans and critics alike over its two seasons and counting. (We’ll see if the third season lives up to the previous two later this month.) There’s also Bob-Waksberg’s obvious connection to the franchise: Arnett, who voices Bojack on the writer’s Netflix series as well as Batman. And Lord and Miller are sticking around as producers on the film as well.Put together, this all points to one possibility: everything could be awesome.Like many stop motion animation fans I’m really looking forward to seeing The LEGO Movie coming out on February 7th. If you haven’t seen the trailer make sure to check it out!Looks like an amazing stop motion movie. If you look closely you’ll see that some scenes from The LEGO Movie trailer look digital, while other scenes look like they were animated using actual LEGO bricks. Some look like a mix of both.
What’s going on here? In fact, not too many people are sure whether this is a digital movie or a stop motion movie. Because I was curious I did some research and found out that people have been asking the directors of The LEGO Movie about this for quite some time but the directors haven’t been very clear about it. Check out this panel from the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller answer the question in the first couple minutes of this video: I also found some tweets by Chris Miller from back in June that seem to confirm a hybrid animation style. To curious: #TheLegoMovie is a hybrid film. CG w/ real Lego elements done in a photoreal stop-motion style. & a secret bit of live-action. — Chris Miller (@chrizmillr) June 20, 2013 Day 1 of 5-day Lego Movie live-action shoot with Will Ferrell. — Chris Miller (@chrizmillr) June 4, 2013 So the answer to the question “Is the LEGO Movie stop motion or CGI?” actually could be both!
And from the sound of it the Directors don’t want to let us know exactly what parts are CGI and what parts may be stop motion. Either way it’s still pretty cool to know that at least some parts of this movie may be made from real LEGO bricks. That’s a win in my book! On the day of the movie's release, more information is coming out about the production process. Here's another tweet from filmmaker Chris Miller @DrewAtHitFix it was mostly CG with some stop motion & also some real LEGO still sets comped in. But Animal Logic made the CG photoreal. — Chris Miller (@chrizmillr) February 3, 2014 The film was made using mostly CGI. Special care was taken to ensure the LEGO world reflected the dynamics and appearance of real LEGO bricks. The creators examined parts under microscopes to better understand how they wore down over time. Animators experimented with different levels of dust and dirt on surfaces, and added imperfections to models, like tiny gaps between bricks.
It's great to have confirmation of something we suspected all along. The creators of this movie were inspired by watching actual brickfilms. Here's an article in the NYT with more coverage of the production. This article at CGMeetup has a few more images from the studio. Check out the images of Emmet's expressions, video of the CGI animation process, and a real LEGO mock-up of a ship in the film in the video above! Did you enjoy this post? Learn more about stop motion with the Stopmotion Explosion Animation Kit - a complete animation package!You are already lining up — in your mind — for the opening day (May 23) of the LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Somerville. You have boxes filled with plastic 2x6 bricks and 2x4 plates, clear studs, mini plastic croissants, and tiny brown barrels stored in your basement. You know that a Brickmaster is not a piece of equipment at the gym. You can name the Ninjago’s four golden weapons. And the elements they represent. You have a mint 1984 Fire and Rescue Squad Town System set in its original box.
You handed down your battered astronaut minifigure from the Classic Space collection to your daughter or son. You used to have a dining room table and now you have a LEGO table. In your dining room.If you find yourself agreeing with any of the above then the new “The LEGO Movie,” opening Friday, is made for you. Or at least marketed to you. The Danish developers of the ingenious LEGO brick, launched in 1958, surely could not have imagined that one day their pieces would snap together to become a 3-D animated feature about a construction worker minifigure and his reluctant turn to hero. The LEGO character at hand, played by Chris Pratt, is the forgettable Emmet whose ordinary life crumbles when the goth/steampunk Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) appears at his job site to let him know that he is the chosen one or the “special.” According to a prophecy delivered to seer Vitruvius (voiced by Hollywood’s favorite God, Morgan Freeman), Emmet must save the world.Adventures and brand mixing ensue as a fever dream of LEGO universes — a construction site, the Wild West, the aggressively whimsical Cloud Cuckoo Land, and the deep sea, rise and break apart and minifigures Batman, Michelangelo of the Ninja Turtles, Gandalf, Dumbledore, and C-3PO make appearances.
Wyldstyle who, with her brains and brawn, is more suited to heroism than the actual hero, drags the reluctant Emmet along on the quest. Together — with some help from the vintage ’70s Spaceman Benny (Charlie Day), Batman (Will Arnett), and Unikitty (Alison Brie) — they must defeat the villain who, in either a profound act of self-delusion or a canny bit of marketing sleight-of-hand, is named, Lord Business (Will Ferrell). Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here Warner Bros. along with filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller (the creative team behind “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”) have cleverly built a movie that appeals thematically to all LEGO types — those who follow instructions and those who prefer to, well, mix sets. And while some of the jokes and ideas might resonate more with adults, the pleasure of seeing your favorite toys come to life belongs mostly to kids. The Globe spoke to some discerning young Brickmasters after a recent screening.
Do you think it’s strange that LEGO figures don’t have fingers? What could LEGO figures do if they had fingers? Anthony: Like if they were doing a car chase for “The LEGO Movie” they could, like, jump onto a another car and just grab a brick. [turns to interviewer and asks] Would you talk to actual LEGO people and would that give them inspiration? Madison: Toys don’t have fingers. Globe: There were a lot of famous people acting with their voices in this movie pretending to be LEGO characters. Do you know who they are? Aidan: Maybe Shaquille O’Neal, the basketball player. Globe: Is there any LEGO figure who wasn’t in the movie who you wished had been? Anthony: I wish all the Ninjas from Ninjago were in the movie. All the Ninja Turtles. Globe: What if you could have different LEGO heads that you could put on your own body — which would you choose? Anthony: Emmet because of his creative mind. Emmet, myself, and Lloyd, the green Ninja.
This would be kind of embarrassing: What if you could change into the unicorn head? Or the duplo head. Ezra: Sports head, school head. I think you could have a head for each action. I don’t think it would make sense if you had a head for each emotion that you were feeling, because I would either not want to share my emotions or want to mask them. Nate: Red Sox uniform. Globe: Are there any famous people who you wished had been in the movie? Ezra: Their words would have taken over the movie. It would have made people think about voices and characters and not the movie. Globe: Did you like the movie? Yunona: I felt uncomfortable at some points. I mean it was funny when they were like “let’s hold hands” [makes sappy romantic face]. Globe: Are there any real-life people who you think should be LEGO characters? Ezra: We’re big sports fans. I’m a Phillies fan, so Jimmy Rollins. Globe: What would your character look like? Arcelio: Mostly red, all red.